


Como la miel en el desierto

by MonaLeshii



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: But he's still a cutie-pie, Canon Compliant, Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, Forks, Friends to Lovers, Imprinting, Post-Breaking Dawn, Seth POV, Seth is a little... different in the first chapters, Wolf Pack, originally posted on fanfiktion.de
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:34:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28504557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonaLeshii/pseuds/MonaLeshii
Summary: Como la miel en el desierto - Like honey in the desert. Seth's life developed in a completely different direction than everyone had thought after the end of the fight with the Volturi. He became the macho successor of the Quileute and nothing seemed to make him think of a coming love or even imprinting. But as we all know, things always turn out differently than you think!
Relationships: Jacob Black/Renesmee Cullen, Seth Clearwater/Original Female Character(s), Sue Clearwater/Charlie Swan
Kudos: 29





	1. Destrucción

“ _Good morning from the most boring hell on this planet,_ ” I thought when I opened my eyes, staring at the white ceiling. 

It was just 9:00 in the morning and already I was annoyed by this day. When I saw the girl lying next to me, I knew even more that I wanted nothing to do with this Saturday morning. 

What was her name again? Samantha? Yes, that had to be her name. 

Tired, I uncovered myself and swung my body out of bed to throw on some shorts.  
I peeked out the door of my room cautiously, but Jake didn't seem to be there, so I decided to go out for a smoke on the patio of our little brown log cabin first. Luckily, the patio had a roof because it was raining, like it did so often in this town. Listlessly, I put a cigarette in my mouth and lit it.

Okay, so how was I going to get rid of this girl? Even though Jake was not at home, I would have liked to get rid of her as soon as possible. Jake wasn't used to it any other way from me, but I honestly didn't feel like having a chat about my love life. 

I deeply inhaled the smoke of the cigarette, lost in thought... When I next looked at the clock, it was already 9:15. That would have to do, even though Samantha and I had arrived here yesterday well drunk—she considerably more than me, since I could drink alcohol almost like water thanks to my high werewolf metabolism. 

I had met her in a bar in Port Angeles, a place where I truly felt very comfortable and no one ever asked for my ID. 

As I walked back to my room, I passed by the photos in the hallway that Renesmee had hung neatly in white picture frames. Many of the pictures showed me—well, the former me before I became...a pessimistic asshole. After even Paul had imprinted on a friend of Kim’s, Jared's girlfriend, I had given up on love completely. Embry had imprinted on a friend of Nessie's, so he was also under the hood. 

I was surrounded by love-struck wolves who couldn't keep their wits about them. Only Brady and Collin were still alone after all, but they were just seventeen, almost eighteen years old.  
I, however, was about to turn twenty and had never once felt anything that came even close to the feeling of imprinting. 

So, I had taken over Paul's job and became the macho amongst the wolves. 

I entered my room, which smelled horrendously like alcohol and sex, and sat down on the edge of the bed. I nudged Samantha. 

"Good morning,” mumbled the dark-haired girl. 

"I don't mean to kick you out, but my roommate will be back any minute," I announced and she nodded.  
"I wrote down my number, why don't you give me a call if you ever feel like coming together again?" she smiled mischievously and when I saw that the blanket had slid down to reveal her breasts, I was sure that I would definitely hit her up at some point.

At that moment, I heard the front door open, followed by Nessie and Jake's voices. 

Samantha seemed to hear it too. "Oh, oh. I'll hurry up then. Where's your bathroom?" 

I pointed to the white door across from my room. While she quickly threw on some clothes and hurried into the bathroom, I joined my best friend and his girlfriend in the kitchen. 

"Did you come home alone?" Jake asked me as I settled into a chair. 

I rolled my eyes. "Do you care?" 

"Well, since I live here too, as you might’ve noticed, I do." Jake handed me a cup of black coffee and I nodded my thanks. 

"But Nessie gets to stay here every time she—" I started a sentence. 

"Hey, don't bring me into this! You're not going to equate me to some—" 

"I'm off then, bye!" Samantha almost ran past the kitchen to get outside. 

"Oops," grinned Nessie and I grinned back playfully. 

"Never mind. She'll be back anyway," I muttered and took a big sip of the coffee. 

"Grandpa asked if we'd come visit him today. I think Sue would like to see you, too." 

My jaw stiffened at my mother's name. 

I loved her dearly, but ever since I had found the real version of myself, she had only bad things to say about me. 

"Hmm. Maybe later. I was going to work on my bike for a bit, Jake, you up for it?" 

But what kind of answer could I expect from a lovesick, for lack of a better word, puppy. "Sorry, Nessie has to study for school and I'm helping her." 

"Sure." I mumbled into my cup and rolled my eyes. 

After a soothing shower, I went outside to screw around with my baby and started by cleaning her. I didn’t get very far until I heard some very familiar noises, also known as lustful moans, coming from our house. 

Another disadvantage of the wolf gene: very good hearing skills. 

I lost no time getting on my bike and disappearing into the seemingly endless streets of La Push before I had to put up with any more moans from my best friend and his girlfriend.  
Lost in thought, I rode along the sea and decided to jump off the cliffs, just like we used to do. 

I parked my bike at a small car park and walked through the adjacent forest. The wind was howling through the treetops and just as I was getting rid of my shorts in a secluded spot, a smell hit my nose. 

Vampire. 

A vampire that didn't smell like the Cullens or any other vampire I knew.  
In a flash I shifted into my wolf form. It had been quiet lately and shifting had become a rare occasion. 

The first two years after the confrontation with the Volturi we had still patrolled the reserve around the clock, but by now only one wolf ran along the borders for a few hours a day.  
All the more shocked and also, admittedly, a little rusty, I chased after the scent of the vampire. 

The wind whipped through my sand-coloured fur and I followed the scent to the other side of the cliffs. There the scent was lost to the wind. The vampire must have jumped into the water. 

I howled loudly and ran back to my clothes. Almost faster than the wind, I was back on my bike and heading back home. 

As I entered the cabin I called out, "Guys! Please, put your clothes back on and come into the kitchen! We might have a problem!" 

Even though Jake had only spoken softly, I heard him mumble, "It better be something important.” A moment later, the two of them were sitting on the chairs in the kitchen, looking at me expectantly.

"I smelled a vampire on the cliffs,” I announced. “The smell was completely unfamiliar to me, I have no idea who it was. Maybe a Volturi spy." 

Jake seemed frozen. 

"You're not joking now are you? This isn’t funny, Seth." Renesmee nagged, defiant as ever. 

"I wouldn't joke about that sort of thing. Jake and you, you should go to your family and I'll round up the boys. We'd best meet at your house, right?" 

Nessie nodded. Jake seemed to slowly wake up from his stupor and stumbled angrily out the front door. Shortly afterwards, we heard clothes ripping and he ran off. His girlfriend shrugged and followed him. 

"See you in a minute,” she called out to me and then ran off as well. 

A little while later, I parked my two-wheeler at the Uleys' house. Emily was currently pregnant with her second child and her eldest son, Tyler, was playing with his father on the patio. 

"Hey Uncle Seth!" the almost four year old exclaimed when he caught sight of me, his dark curls falling into his face. 

"Hey, you two," I greeted them both and looked deep into Sam's eyes. 

He seemed to understand immediately and sent his son to his mother. 

"I really hate to say this, but there might be a problem with a vampire,” I told him as soon as we were alone and sat down next to him on the bench in front of the house. 

"How did I know something like this had to happen when everything was just going smoothly?" sighed Sam. 

"Nessie and Jake already went to the Cullens. I told them I'd catch up." 

Sam peered through the window behind us into the kitchen at his wife and son. 

"Maybe it was just a vampire that happened to come this way." 

"The vampires all know better than to roam here... But yes, maybe you're right." Sam gave me a pained smile. 

"Let's go then."

There was little else we could have done. 

When we all arrived at the Cullens' house in wolf form, they were already waiting on their patio.

"It's nice that we can sort this out together this time and I won't be clashing heads with anyone again." Emmett grinned. 

Rosalie rolled her eyes, probably thinking about the last time Paul and Emmett had almost torn each other apart. I saw those images in my mind, because Paul remembered too. 

"It would be easier if Seth could report in human form," Carlisle said and I tilted my head. 

"He says he has no clothes here," Edward translated my thoughts. 

"Jake does have some clothes here," Bella muttered. 

Renesmee was already coming down the stairs with those very same clothes. 

I took the bundle and walked once around the house. At least Jake's clothes fit me now. They had always been far too big for me back then. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, I ran back to the front. 

"Well, hi! I’m going to try and make this short. I was at the cliffs, wanting to jump off them for some fun when suddenly I had this really disgusting smell in my nose and I followed its trace, but only got as far as the sea.

“I couldn't place it, maybe it was just someone who happened to be there, or maybe it was a Volturi. I think it was a female scent, but I'm not sure." I shrugged and the others looked at each other perplexed. 

"Well... I guess we can't do more than observe," Carlisle suggested and apparently Sam agreed too. 

"So we go back to patrolling like we did some years ago?" I screwed up my face. 

By being one of the few of the pack that hadn’t yet imprinted, I could already see myself working the night shifts. 

"Sam says the pack is going back to La Push. Jared and Paul are volunteering to take the shift there until tonight. Rosalie and Emmett are joining us on border patrol. After that, Seth and Connor take over on the La Push side and Bella and I take over here. Then we'll go from there." 

Mentally, I rolled my eyes as Edward said this. 

Connor was the youngest of us, he turned when the Volturi had just retreated. Now he was fifteen and the exact opposite of me. Which also meant he was the same as I was when I was that young. 

"Seth, you stay here." Bella fixed me with her golden eyes and I shuddered. 

_Uh oh._

Even though I'd always gotten along well with the Cullens, since I'd developed in a different direction than everyone had assumed, Bella and Jake had often argued over me. After the wolves left, Jake, Nessie and I sat on the patio enjoying the few rays of sunshine that day. 

"Am I in trouble for something?" I asked, addressing Nessie, but she just shrugged.  
"I wouldn’t know what for.” 

"I just want to make sure you come with me to Dad and Sue's,” said Bella at that moment through the open kitchen window. 

Urgh. I'd completely forgotten about that. Well, that could only turn out to be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!  
> This is my first fanfiction in English, please be nice - I wrote this fic the past year on fanfiktion.de in German - Now here we are, translating it into English.  
> Of course the fic is about my baby Seth, my favourite character since Day one. I'll try to upload a chapter once a week, but I promise nothing! :D  
> I'm studying Spanish, so the titles will all be in Spanish to bring a bit of variety in here :)  
> Questions, comments, thoughts in general are of course welcome and I already thank everyone who reads this story <3  
> 


	2. Familia

Shortly afterwards I was in the car with Jake, Nessie and Bella on the way to Downtown Forks. _Downtown Forks_. I laughed inwardly at this brilliant joke.

Nothing had changed here in the past few years and I was already bored thinking of having to go all Happy Family right away. I rarely saw my mother any more because I spent a lot of time at the garage that Jake, Quil, Embry and I had built up from the ground. Otherwise, I did a lot of sports and hung out in bars. Because of that, I didn't have a real prospect of getting out of this hole. 

Leah, on the other hand, had been ‘set free’ by Sam and Jake. She was now studying law at Middleton Law School in Philadelphia, on the very other end of this continent. I didn’t hold it against her. At least one person from the Clearwater family had made it out of here. 

While I was lost in thought, we reached Charlie's house and I reluctantly got out of the car. 

"Seth, don't you dare start anything today." Bella looked at me seriously and I nodded in surrender. 

"Okay, okay. I won't do anything, I promise," I replied and followed the others into the house.

As we walked through the door, we were greeted directly by my mother. "Oh, you're all here! How nice!" She came straight towards me, looking pleased. "Even my son, who I thought was lost, is here! Oh gosh, have you grown even bigger?"

I let her pull me into a tight hug. 

_Oh, Mom_. 

Sometimes I did miss her, especially when I smelled the scent of her shampoo which she had been using since… forever. It took me straight back to my childhood. 

"I made dinner. We're having burgers," she announced gleefully.

In a slightly better mood, I entered the living room where Charlie was sitting on the couch, feet propped up on the leg extension of his arm chair. Oh, he was getting old. I thought that Bella also noticed this at that moment. 

Nevertheless, she smiled at him and sat down next to him. 

"How's school going, little one?" he asked his granddaughter, who sat down on the sofa opposite him and answered with a beaming grin that she had only gotten good grades in the last few weeks. 

Well, wonderful. I had just about passed my final exams because of the vampire and shapeshifter feud that had been going on during that time. Inwardly, I sighed deeply.

After dinner, I actually felt much better and was talking to my mother about Leah when Charlie suddenly stood up and looked around. 

"I'm glad you're all here. I have something to tell you now..." he started and I cringed. 

Oh God, please don't make him and my mother get married. I looked inconspicuously at my mother's hands, but I couldn't catch sight of a ring. At least that was something. 

"Phew, this isn't even that easy," he muttered, running a hand through his clearly greying hair.

"Spit it out already, Dad," Bella urged him to finally come clean. 

I raised an eyebrow in anticipation as my mother placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"Bella, I'm so sorry you're only finding out now, but... I have a second daughter." 

Silence. Dangerous silence. 

Bella's gaze darkened and I wished very much right now that Jasper was here. 

"She's seventeen. Her mother died last week. Since I'm her last living relative, she's going to come to Forks and live here." 

I had to stifle a laugh. Life sometimes writes stories that no one can make up. 

"I need to get some air." Bella announced and left the house via the patio to go into the woods. 

"Uh oh." I muttered. 

"So what do you guys think?" Charlie asked, addressing Jake, Nessie and I, but I just shrugged. 

"It's cool, a stepsister." I grinned, trying to lighten the mood a bit, because Charlie looked really crestfallen. 

"And I get a new friend." Renesmee smiled too and Jake nodded encouragingly to Charlie as well. 

"I hope she doesn't mess up like Bella did a few years ago,” Jake chuckled. 

_Which part_? I thought. 

Charlie screwed up his face. 

After he too had noticed that Nessie was growing unusually fast, we told him that Nessie was also some kind of shapeshifter like us, otherwise we would have had the Volturi back on our doorstep faster than anyone could have said ‘vampire.’ 

_Ah yes, Volturi_. 

Sighing, I thought about my night shift and glanced at the clock. 

"I'm going to go look for Mum, we should get back slowly," Nessie suggested and I nodded.

Then I went into the kitchen with my mother to help her clean up while Jake talked to Charlie about trivial things. 

"Are you even okay with…all of this?" I asked her as I dried some plates. 

She grinned at me. "Honestly yes, I mean finally a kid who isn't prejudiced by any tribal stories. Just a normal girl." 

_Oh, if she had known then..._

"Well, thank you very much," I grumbled playfully and put the plates on the shelf. 

"Oh my dear, don't worry about it. It's all going to be fine. She'll go to school with Nessie for two more years and then we'll see," my mother continued talking as I sat down on the corner bench. 

"How much bigger do you actually want to get?" she then asked, turning to me. 

"Mom, I haven't grown in more than two years." 

"In height, but in width?" 

"Are you telling me I'm fat?" I pouted, even though I knew full well she meant my muscles.

“I mean you barely fit through the door without having to go sideways, but—”

I shut her up with a glare. Truthfully, it was not like she was wrong. I had shot past all the other wolves and was twice as wide as I had been five years ago.

"Well, my point is that you should find a purpose in life other than work, sports and one-night stands." 

_Boom._

"What?" I asked, surprised by the words of my mom. 

She had never called me out on my promiscuity before and I was all the more shocked now. 

"Yeah, like I don't know what you're doing. You're still my son," She grinned. "And my motherly intuition says you're going to meet someone special soon." 

"Your motherly intuition also said that Leah will drop out of college after one semester," I replied and she looked at me fondly. 

"True, I was sometimes wrong about you two slobs." She tied her slowly greying hair into a braid and I sighed. 

"Oh, mom." I stood up to hug her. 

Maybe today's visit had been good after all. Who knew how long I had left with my mother? 

"I love you too, Seth." She smiled understandingly as I let go of her again.

As I shifted in the evening and trotted towards the coast, I listened to Jared and Paul's conversation about Jared and Kim's wedding, which was coming up in a few weeks. 

"And what about a bachelor party?" I asked, mockingly. 

When Sam had celebrated his, I hadn't been old enough to go out to party with the guys. Things were different this time. 

"Oh, maybe we'll do something small—" replied Jared and I gave a short silent howl. 

"No fucking way." 

"Jesus, Seth, you're worse than me back then," Paul interjected. 

"Envious?" I replied playfully. 

"To be honest, no I'm not. But to get back on topic: I kind of agree with Seth. We should at least make the drive to Seattle.”

"Great, I'll start making a list of strip clubs, we can go on a club crawl." 

"Seth—" threatened Jared, but I was just getting started. 

"I've got a few ideas already and I even know a stripper who offers a bang for a buck if you know what I mean!" 

Just then, Connor joined our conversation. 

"Yo, what exactly does a strip club like this look like on the inside?" the fifteen year old asked and—as sorry as I was—my mind briefly flitted to images of a salon tinted in red neon lights. 

"Seth!" Jared mentally stepped on my paws. "You think something like that one more time in front of Connor and Sam will make you a head shorter." 

I arrived just at the spot where Jared and Paul were waiting for us, and bowed humbly to Jared. 

"Oh, excuse me, you innocent and not at all dirty wolf. But the last word on the subject of stag parties hasn't been said yet!" 

Paul laughed and Jared groaned in annoyance. 

"Shoo, home with you guys. You’ve got families who miss you!" I bid them both goodbye. 

Shortly after, I was alone with Connor’s and my thoughts. He was thinking about school when he stopped in front of me. 

"You take the right and I'll take the left?" I asked him and he agreed. 

His almost black coat showed his connection to Sam as his cousin, but otherwise they weren't much alike. Connor was the quieter type and did a lot with his friends, who weren't necessarily Quileute. He didn't neglect school either, unlike us back then. His thoughts drifted back to maths. 

"For god's sake, Connor, can you think about something else for a change?" I reproached him as I ran along the left side of the coast and the forest. 

"There's not that much exciting stuff in my life,” he replied and I smiled. 

He should be glad. 

"We have a small motorbike sitting around at our garage. Do you want to fix it up with our help? It'll get you off the school mental merry-go-round for a bit," I asked instead and he thought for a moment. 

And then, for a brief moment, he had no direct control over his thoughts and I saw a dark-haired girl with glasses around his age standing in front of him, clapping at how cool he looked on his bike. 

"Ohh, Connor." I teased him. "Who is she?" 

Connor snuffed. 

"My mom's goddaughter. She comes to visit every few weeks with her mum." He sighed. "They're from Seattle. My mum's known her mum since kindergarten, and Juliana's only a little younger than me."

"And you like her?" I asked cautiously as I trudged along the dark beach, running my nose along the ground. 

Not a similar smell to the one from this morning. Maybe it really had just been a nomad vampire passing through. 

"Well, what do you mean _like_? I like spending time with her and we laugh a lot." 

"But?" 

"I'm afraid something like what happened to Sam with Leah and Emily will happen to me." 

Urgh, we both immediately felt the echo of a stabbing pain. Even though Connor hadn't been a wolf then and I didn't catch everything, we could draw enough pain from Leah and Sam's memories. 

"My dear Connor, I'll tell you something now: imprinting is actually something very rare. I don’t know why such a large number of wolves from our pack suffer this fate, but it’s unusual. So, if you like her and you have the feeling that she likes you too, then ask her if she wants to go to the movies with you or something. We'll have the bike sorted out by then too." 

Connor's mood brightened again.

The rest of the patrol went quietly and I chatted with him about this and that. He really wasn't as annoying as he had been a few years ago, I thought after changing back at my house. 

It was eight o'clock in the morning by now and Quil and Embry had taken over patrol duty. At first, I had come along with them for a bit to chat about this and that, but then tiredness overcame me and I was drawn home. 

Jake's room door was open, so he hadn't come back yet. He had probably stayed with the Cullens. 

As I showered, I thought back to the day Nessie and Jake had officially decided to be together. I had never seen him so anxious, even though we all knew that day would come sooner or later. 

Bella and Edward had apparently expected that day to come later rather than sooner.   
While I shampooed my hair, I thought about just chilling for the rest of the day and maybe I could give Samantha another call. 

I didn't even want to think about my mother's advice, because otherwise I would have had a guilty conscience...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!   
> Thank you so much for all the kudos on the first chapter. I'm very happy that a few people seem to have found their way to this story :) I honestly don't have that much more to add, except that I hope you enjoyed the 2nd chapter as well.  
> As always, big thanks to Miss Carly for beta reading <3  
> See you next week!


	3. Amigos

The following days went by as usual. I got up in the morning, did a round of training, went to work, maybe went on patrol without finding anything, and slept. On Thursday, however, things changed as I watched Jacob pacing up and down the workshop rather restlessly and I was a _little_ annoyed by that.

“Jake, what's wrong with you?“ I asked, sliding under a black Jeep on a rolling board whose underbody I had just inspected.

“I kind of have a bad feeling.“ He sighed as he sorted tools at the workbench in the corner.

“Because?” I asked unsuspectingly.

“Jesus, Seth, what’s with your attention span?! Tonight Brianna arrives in Seattle and Nessie is going to pick her up with Charlie and Sue.”

Ah, I remembered it now. Charlie's daughter. My stepsister—or something.

“And why exactly does that put you in a bad mood?“

“I'm not in a bad mood, you knucklehead, I have a feeling something is going to go wrong.“

I sat up and followed the again wandering Jake with my eyes.

“So—go for a ride then?” I suggested but he shook his head.

“Nessie doesn't want me to,“ he pressed out between his lips, looking a little crumpled.I looked at him in amazement. “She thinks Brianna should get to know all of us little by little.“

Well, somehow, I actually had to agree with Renesmee on that one.  
We probably all looked very intimidating to normal people.

“Come on, nothing will happen. But if Nessie isn't free tonight, Quil and Embry can come over to play video games for a bit, can't they?" I tried to cheer Jake up and distract him, but he just nodded absentmindedly and ran his hand through his short hair.

I sighed loudly and left the red building for a smoke. I leaned against the door and looked up at the grey sky, which slowly opened up and rays of sunlight emerged. Just then Embry and Quil came out of our little office, arguing about something.

Quil then asked me, “Seth, did you tell Connor he could have that one bike we kept for parts?“

I exhaled the last drag of my cigarette and nodded.

“And who's going to pay for that?“ Embry asked.

“Guys, take it easy. The deal with him is that he helps out here on the weekends and in turn we help him to fix the thing,“ I replied to the two dark haired guys and followed them back into the dark garage.

Maybe Connor could start cleaning the windows...

“Great Seth, you Holy Samaritan,“ Embry teased me, nudging me lightly.

“I just want him to think about something other than school for once during patrol. And he wants to impress a girl, so I'm the right person to go and help him do that, right?” I sighed and flicked through the forms of the jeep that was parked in front of me.

“While we're talking about it... Are you guys imprinted-free today like Jake?”

“Claire's got one of those sleepover parties at the nursery today, so the weekly dinner with her parents is cancelled,“ murmured Quil. 

Embry nodded. “Mina, Jo and Kim are in Los Angeles from today until Sunday, shopping for wedding dresses.“

“Dresses? Plural?“ I asked and Embry nodded.

“Well that'll be a kind of a party,“ Quil grinned. „And what about Jake?“

“Look, I'm not the only one who's so inattentive, Jake!“ I yelled out to my best friend who was loitering somewhere in the back of the workshop.

“Brianna's coming to Forks today after all. Nessie doesn't want Jake to be there.“ I giggled softly and leaned against the workbench.

Surprised, Embry opened a can of coke.

“Hey, you've left out a lot. Nessie thinks it would be better if Seth's new stepsister met us slobs one by one first,” came from the back of the hall.

He emphasised _Seth's new stepsister_ and I rolled my eyes.

“Well, it was mostly just about you being chaotic." Quil grinned and Jake pouted to himself.

“Well, then that's settled: 9pm tonight at Seth and Jake's house. We'll order pizza and, more importantly, put our phones away so as not to give potential girlfriends or hookups a chance to interrupt us," suggested Quil and we all agreed.

Finally something interesting in this life!

In the evening, the four of us sat in front of our TV and watched one action movie after another, even though we were too engrossed in having conversations. First it was about Jared‘s bachelor party and I had to settle for some compromises regarding the festivities.

Well, it wasn't my farewell to being single after all so it wasn't all that important to me either. On the other hand, would I ever experience something like a bachelor’s party? Probably not, but maybe that was just as well. Casual sex with various women was enough for me, and with my friends I had also hit the jackpot – unless their girlfriends claimed them.

But that wasn't going to be the case today. Instead, we teased Embry about the fact that Mina hadn't let him get it on yet.

“Stop it, guys, Quil is a virgin unlike me! Go ahead and make fun of him,” he grumbled as he stuffed nachos into his mouth.

“Well, he's also imprinted on a child, so it's understandable," I defended Quil.

“And Mina just turned seventeen. Jake, why don't you tell us about the first time you had sex?" Embry interjected and I chuckled softly to myself.

“It was pretty much the same for me as it is for Quil,” he replied quietly and looked at his mobile for the hundredth time this hour.

“I thought we agreed to put our phones away, didn't we?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, pointing at him.

“I guess you'll have to get the next round of beers for that.” Embry grinned and Jake ran an uneasy hand through his black hair.

“Nessie's not answering,” he muttered as he took the four empty beer bottles from the table and disappeared into the kitchen.

Shrugging, I looked at the other two and followed Jake, but only to have a smoke on the patio.

“Seth, seriously, when are you going to stop doing that?” yelled Quil from the living room.

“When I don't like it anymore. So never I guess,” I grumbled, lighting my cigarette.

Besides, this was Paul’s fault. He had first offered me one when I was just eighteen and I had been stuck with it ever since. Looking at my wristwatch I noticed it was already approaching midnight.  
Well, the fact that Renesmee hadn't contacted Jake nor me yet also seemed strange to me now.

But then I only heard a “Nessie, why don't you answer my messages?” from the kitchen and sprinted into the same room.

“Sorry, I was having a pretty good chat with Brianna. Back home now though,” she replied as I snatched the phone out of Jake's hand.

“Yeah, it's all sorted then. Jake loves you and is putting his phone away now,” I replied for my best friend who was desperately trying to get his phone back and running around the small house with me.

Nessie laughed softly, “Okay, okay. Calm down, Sethie. It's all good. I'll check in with him tomorrow, have fun you slobs!”

She hung up and I threw the phone on my bed.

“You'll get that back in two hours.” I grinned triumphantly and Jacob surrendered to my order.

“Who would have thought four years ago that Seth would one day be faster and stronger than Jake?” asked Quil laughing and giving me a high-five.

“Only because you all got relationship bellies,” I teased further.

“Well, I'm still better than you at Call of Duty, you loser.” Jacob countered me, placing ten dollars on the table and I raised an eyebrow belligerently after placing ten dollars next to it as well.

“We'll see who's the best right here and now,” Embry also affirmed and added ten dollars to the bet as well.

“All right. Following rules: First one to have more than 300 kills wins.” Quil set the rules as he took a note out of his wallet and I grinned to myself.

Well, this was more like what I had imagined for my evening to go like.

I was woken up too early the next morning by the ringtone of my alarm clock. I groaned loudly and turned sideways again.

Quil and Embry had only left at three o'clock in the morning - now it was just after half past eight.  
Embry and I had unfortunately lost the bet we had made at the end of the night and thus we had won the early shift in the garage. The only bright spot was that I would have the afternoon off and could sleep a little before I had to go on patrol again at night.

When I got to the kitchen, however, Jake was already awake.

“What's up with you?” I asked sleepily as I poured myself a coffee.

“I'm about to drive Nessie to school. She’s there from half past nine to three today,” he mumbled absently, staring off into the distance.

“Is Brianna going today, too?” I asked with interest, but my best friend shook his head.

“From Monday on,” he replied and I walked out onto the terrace with my coffee to smoke my first cigarette of the day.

At a little after nine I left the house, at the same time as Jacob. We said goodbye and drove off in different directions. To wake myself up a bit more, I turned my radio up to almost full volume and let the music reverbrate against my skull. When I arrived at the garage, Embry was already talking to a customer who had just driven her car into the hall.

“Good morning!” I greeted them both and hung my jacket in our office.

From there I watched the young woman, whose car was a small blue convertible. She was blonde, so definitely not from around here.  
Our reputation had even reached Port Angeles. We worked quickly and weren’t overly expensive, like other garages. Besides, we were four young—and not to toot my own horn—good-looking guys, so especially female customers were drawn to our little shop.  
And since the other guys were all tied up and taken, some of the women were stuck with me. Not wanting to miss my chance, I ran up to them and joined in the conversation.

“No, no, your baby is in good hands with me. Convertibles are my thing.” I offered the blonde a smile. 

She was relatively slim built, wearing tight jeans, a blouse and black high heels and definitely had some make-up on.

“Yes, I believe my ride is in good hands with you,” she replied playfully and I could feel Embry subtly trying to sink into the ground next to us.

“Well, there's my colleague up ahead to give me a lift. You'll call if I can come over?” she said goodbye, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulders and I waved after her.

“Seth, our auto shop is not a sex pool you can dip into whenever you like,” Embry hissed at me as we entered the hall and I closed the sliding door behind me.

“Excuse me? I was just being nice.” I looked at the convertible from the outside.

“I’ll bet you the next two patrols that you’ll end up in bed with her within forty-eight hours.” Embry held out his hand to me and I took it.

“Deal.” I grinned, even though I knew he didn't mean it literally.

Forty-eight hours, as eager as she—her name was Jasmine, by the way, according to the documents—had looked, I might as well check in with her in a fortnight and she'd be right there on my doorstep.

“Seth, you’re killing me,” sighed Embry.

“I’ll be in the office doing some orders then, did you put the list on my table for Connor’s bike?” he then asked and I nodded.

“Sure, I told you, you’re in good hands with me.” I grinned and Embry walked towards the office, mumbling to himself, while I prepared the lift for the convertible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all - as always, thanks for the shout-outs and kudos. I hope you had a nice week and have a great weekend. See you next Saturday! :)


	4. Sentimientos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello people!  
> A quick reminder that this fic is rated E for a reason - It's not too bad, but the end of this chapter is some kind of NSFW.  
> Have a great week, see you on saturday! :)

When I entered our house that afternoon, there was a reassuring silence. 

Jake had come by at four o'clock to relieve me and Emb at work. After spending time with Nessie, he seemed to have regained his usual optimism and he wasn't as much of a sad sack as he had been the day before. What was that imprint business good for again? That you were sad when you had some free time away from your imprinted? 

Lost in thought, I stretched out on my bed and decided to get some sleep. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get any real rest. I was plagued by weird dreams filled with flashes of red eyes. 

I woke up confused and shook my head. Why the hell was I dreaming of a vampire red eyes and black robes? This whole patrol thing and the worrying about the Volturi returning had apparently scared me more than I had thought. 

Glancing at the clock on my bedside cabinet, I startled.  
Fuck, I had to patrol in an hour and wanted to do some exercise beforehand. A shower wouldn't hurt either. 

After rushing to put on a pair of shorts and gathering my weights, I thought about Brianna. I hadn't met my new stepsister yet and Jake had also been tight-lipped earlier when he came in to take over my shift. 

She was very quiet, but nice. She was the complete opposite of us Quileute: light blonde and bloody pale.  
She would pass for a vampire if they gave her contacts, Jake had said. Funny that I was dreaming of vampires now... 

I pushed those thoughts aside and turned my sports playlist on full blast.

“Jesus, Seth, turn that music down!” yelled Jake through the house 45 minutes later.

“What's up?” I yelled back, but turned the stereo down, I was just done with my upper body workout anyway. 

“Nothing, I just wanted to know if you were alone or if that Jasmine girl was in the room with you.” My best friend grinned as he peeked through the open door of the room. 

“Emb didn't tell you about our bet?” I asked as I grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom. 

I pushed Jake aside and looked at him. 

“Yes he did, that's exactly why I’m wondering. I upped the stake by betting my patrol." Jake laughed and took a step to the side. 

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I was just doing some workout.” Jake eyed me up and down.

“You're in some good shape right now.” He nodded appreciatively. 

“Do I hear envy? If you want, we can work out together again sometime. That little potbelly could go," I giggled and poked Jake in the sweatshirt. 

“Kid, don't push it.”

“Kid?” I asked, straightening up. I had two centimetres on Jake. It wasn’t a lot, but I had outgrown my best friend all the same. 

Jake shook his head slowly. “Clearwater, I give up. You're right, you're bigger and stronger than all of us together.” 

I stuck my tongue out at him and disappeared into the bathroom with a very boosted ego.

Cursing, I sprinted out the back door of our house dressed only in boxers, having seen on the little digital clock on my bedside table that it was already a little after eight. 

I stripped off my underwear and shifted, still cursing in the deepest jargon. 

“Seth, watch your tongue!”  
Uh-oh, Sam was present. 

“Sorry,” I thought. “What are you doing here?” I asked him then, as I walked my usual patrol route along the edge of the forest, hearing no one else in my thoughts. 

“Connor's in Seattle for the weekend. He asked if I'd cover for him," the Alpha replied.

Uhh, Seattle, so with his crush. 

“Seth. We're still talking about my cousin here, so please shut your big mouth.” Sam sounded annoyed. 

“Is everything okay?”

Yes, Sam was often quick-tempered and lecturing, but I hadn't seen him like that in a long time. 

“Oh, Tyler is in an absolute defiant phase right now and a pregnant Emily is not a pleasant Emily.” Images of the two of them arguing and Tyler throwing toys flashed before his eyes. 

“I can do the patrol on my own, Sam. Then you can get some rest?” I suggested. 

Even though I had changed in many ways, I hadn't in one: my loyalty to the pack and my friends. They were my family and family came first. That was also why I had been glad at the time that Jake and Sam had agreed to reunite the two packs and run a sort of dual leadership of the alphas. It quickly became clear that Sam was clearly the more structured alpha and Jake had therefore backed off a bit again. That's why we all got on well again and I, as a very harmony-addicted person, had found my peace with it.

“No Seth, thank you. I'm still in charge of this pack.” Sam snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Getting a bit old for this, aren't you?” I laughed as I trotted across the beach, letting my eyes roam over the seemingly endless sea. 

Sam snorted, "The problem is that Jake is tied to Nessie. And Nessie would never let her family move away alone. That means that if the Cullens are gone, Jake is gone, so is our second alpha. And honestly, the next bloodline alpha would be Connor.” 

I laughed inwardly at the thought of Connor leading this bunch of wolves. 

“That's exactly how I see it. So I guess I'll have to do this job here for a few more years.”

After this topic, there was silence between us for the time being. Fortunately, Sam and I were now able to hold back our thoughts so that not every thought reached the other. 

“Have you met your stepsister yet?” the black wolf asked at some point. 

“Nah. Nessie said it was enough for her to get to know us gradually because we might scare her.” 

Sam agreed. “How's Sue doing with it?” 

“Oh, she's happy to have a normal girl at home who doesn't howl with wolves or fall in love with a vampire. Just _normal_.” 

My alpha thought of various scenarios of the past years. Especially the years around the beginning of Edward and Bella's love story were wild. Almost everyone on the reservation who had ancestral blood in them had turned and Sam had to watch out for all of us.

And then, he saw me, the old me, before his inner eye: the cuddly little Seth who couldn't hurt anyone and even befriended the Cullens. The Seth who no longer existed like that. 

“What are you trying to achieve with these thoughts?” I asked, slightly pissed off. 

“Nothing at all. I was just wondering how such a little, cute wolf could turn into the biggest heartthrob of our pack.” 

“Can't you guys come at me for something other than my sex life?” I groaned.

“When you stop coming in a different girl every week," countered Sam.

I gaped, then huffed out a laugh. 

“Fine, this point goes to you,” I muttered in response and walked up the cliffs on the other side of the beach. 

“But please let me have the only fun I have left here,” I added as I squeezed my way between the pines. 

“Do you really think so?” asked Sam thoughtfully. “Is this really the only fun you have left here?” 

“Sam. I'm very happy that about 70% of this pack has found their imprinted. What this means to me, though, is that you've all missed the boat and your lives revolve around these women. That doesn't leave much time for me as a pack mate. And my sister, with whom I get along quite well, is living on the other side of the continent at the moment. There's not much else left.” I finished my monologue and had already revealed far too much of my emotional life. 

Normally I didn't talk about that. 

Sam remained silent. 

“I never thought of it that way,” he answered after what felt like an eternity. 

“It's not your problem either. I'm fine the way things are, and as long as I still get to see you all around the campfire from time to time or I can gamble with the boys, everything's fine.” I tried to put an end to the conversation. “And now you'd better tell me about how it is with Tyler. When I was there the other day, he was really good at articulating himself. What's he like otherwise?” 

Sam's thoughts flitted to his son and I noticed how proud he became. So the subject of _Seth's emotional state_ was closed. Fortunately.

The next morning I fell directly into bed, but only to be woken up again a few hours later by the ringing of my mobile phone. I squinted at the clock. It was just before eleven, so I hadn't slept five hours. 

A glance at my smartphone told me it was Embry calling. 

“Emb, dude. I had to patrol last night. What’s up?” I groaned as I answered the call. 

“Oh Seth, don't be like that. You can go back to sleep if you want—I just wanted to let you know that Jasmine called about the car. She really needs it today.” 

My God, it was Saturday. We weren't usually open on weekends. 

“And why don't you take care of it?” I asked dismissively, though I got up and went to the terrace for a smoke. 

“You're really going to pass her?” laughed Emb and I threw my head back. 

Fuck, of course not. Even if the bet was still on for 24 hours, I'd have to show interest to get back to her in a few days. 

“Alright. I'll take care of it. The car's almost done anyway, just need new tyres,” I grumbled.

“Good, she said she'd come by around one.” 

Two hours?! I was way too tired for this stuff. 

“Great I'll hurry,” I sighed and then hung up.

A quick shower and two coffees later, I was standing in the garage putting on the convertible's tyres.  
Loud music blasted from the speakers and I wondered when the boys had last tidied the place up. 

A lot of stuff was flying around and I could only squeeze through the piles of tyres that had been delivered and were sitting in the far corner of the garage. 

Luckily, Connor would start working for us next weekend, so such tedious tasks could be delegated to him.

“Hello, is anyone there?” I suddenly heard a female voice and I went towards the gate. 

“Hey Jasmine. Your car is just ready. How did you get here?” I asked when I didn't see anyone else standing next to her. 

“Oh, I'm glad it's you Seth. A friend brought me, but she's already left.” She clicked her tongue and then stood facing me. 

Shit, she was wearing a bandeau top and tight jeans. And she was certainly aware of what she was showing off. 

“Shall we go to the office? It's sheltered from the wind and we can finish the bill,” I said and the blonde grinned mischievously at me. 

Uh oh. If this kept up, I was going to lose the bet. 

I sighed inwardly and tried to hold back, but when I sat down on the office chair and she leaned on it so that I could see right into her cleavage and she kept touching me inconspicuously, my resistance diminishing by the second. My jeans, on the other hand, became tighter and tighter. 

Calmly I ran down the bill and explained to her what we had done to the car.

But then she asked, “Seth, why are you avoiding my advances?” 

What a direct statement. 

“Once we get the business sorted out I'm available for literally anything afterwards.” I replied automatically and would have liked to punch myself in the face. 

If the guys found out I'd have extra patrols on my back, but on the other hand: No one was here and I could just lie to them. 

And if Jasmine pushed her tits even a millimetre further into my face, I couldn't guarantee anything—and that's exactly what happened: we swept the papers off the desk and I lifted her onto it, while I quickly worked the buttons of her outfit. 

“I hope you have a condom,” I muttered hoarsely as I unzipped my pants and she undressed as well.  
“Like I'm that stupid and unprepared. Of course,” she purred, tossing me a small packet. 

In a flash I pulled the condom on and stood between her legs. It had never occurred to me before that this desk was a very comfortable height for sex, but that thought was immediately dispelled as Jasmine pulled me against her and I pressed myself into her. 

“Fuck, Seth,” she moaned against me and that was all I wanted to hear right then.

What I didn't want to hear was someone opening the door to the office and stepping inside.

“Oh shit, you fucking horny bastard, Seth you—” shouted Jake and I looked to my left. 

There he was, with Nessie and a light blonde, beautiful girl standing next to him. 

The eyes of the girl met mine and I felt like I was suspended in space and time, wrapped in cotton wool as the world reduced to nothing but her. 

Cursing, Jake quickly pushed the two girls back outside and Jasmine jumped up from the desk, muttered something that vaguely sounded like an apology and then left the office. 

But I didn't really notice, I still had the blonde girl's light brown, almost golden eyes in my head. They looked like a mixture of honey and chocolate. I thought of nothing else, got dressed and shook my head to become a little clearer again.

But I didn't. Instinct guided me as I went outside to look for the object of my instinct's desire. 

There, my best friend was sitting on the floor, laughing so hard he couldn't contain himself. 

There was no sign of Nessie or the other girl, and Jasmine was apparently already gone. The blue convertible, at least, was no longer in the garage. 

“I—What?” I asked, completely confused, only slowly becoming aware of this situation. 

This urge to follow the girl, to want to protect her and never let her go. I knew this feeling from—Shit, from the wolves that were imprinted. Apparently, _while I was inside another woman_ , I had imprinted. 

“Seth, this is the funniest thing that I ever got to witness in my life. By far.” Jake chortled to himself and I stood open-mouthed in front of the shambles called my life.


	5. Realización

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello party people!  
> I hope you are well, I am very excited to show you the new chapter.  
> As always, thank you to everyone who reads this story!  
> <3

“That didn’t just happen, did it?” I asked, addressing myself, and Jake patted me on the back. 

“Congratulations. Welcome to the club.” He laughed. 

“Where have they gone?” I asked, sighing, and ran my fingers through my hair desperately. 

“They're on their way to Emily's, they were going to bake together today and Brianna asked if she could come along to meet some people. We wanted to show her the garage first…” 

It was then that realization struck me: The girl I'd been imprinting on was my goddamn _stepsister_. This was bad. This was really bad. Lost in thought, I stared into the distance. What had just happened? What would she think of me now? Fuck, Mom would kill me. 

"Seth-Babe, a penny for your thoughts.” Jake broke the silence and threw his arm over my shoulder. “Come on, we're going to Emily's, too.”

I nodded slowly, still not understanding what had just occurred, but the closer we got to Brianna, the more comfortable I felt again. 

“Are you not talking to me anymore?” my best friend asked as we sat in my car. Jake was driving. My hands were shaking too much. 

“I don't know what’s worse: Her being my stepsister, the way mom is going to me because of it, or—and this will probably be my funeral—her probably having seen me fuck someone else just then.” I sighed and put my head back. 

My fingers skirted over my pockets, looking for a cigarette. It was something I needed so much right now.

"No, Seth. Don’t you dare to smoke in this car. You normally don’t even think about smoking in your sacred temple. Stop it," my best friend grumbled, “Also: you can cross out the _probably_ from that last sentence. Nessie will make you a head shorter, too. She was just a _little_ uncomfortable about it,” Jake grinned and I heard the sarcasm literally dripping from his tongue while I clasped my hands together so as not to smoke a cigarette after all.

We turned into Sam and Emily's driveway and I thought of how to confront any of the people sitting in the house. To my relief, only Emily, Tyler, Nessie, Brianna and Sam were there, so I relaxed a little again. No other annoying wolves.

Sam was waiting for us outside the terrace, grinning broadly as I got out of the car.

“Nessie told us about...certain happenings when Brianna was in the bathroom. Is that really what happened?” he greeted us and Jake started laughing again. 

“Honestly, it’s the best thing that could have happened to us! I'll share the memory with everyone. And have a nice laugh about it at his wedding. Oh, these are going to be some great years!” 

_Wedding_? 

For now, I'd be happy if the girl talked to me after what happened. 

Silently, I stood beside the two of them. 

“Seth, don't worry about it. She'll feel you have a bond.” Sam tried to cheer me up—miserably. 

I don't think I've ever felt so bad and happy at the same time. So I let my newly acquired instinct pull me into the kitchen of the house, where Emily and Renesmee were also grinning at me while Brianna sat at the table reading something on her phone. 

“Hey guys,” I greeted them cautiously and then approached Brianna. “Sorry about meeting me like this. Normally, well, I am—” I sighed and held out my hand to her. 

“Let me guess, you're not normally like this?” She grinned at me and my heart melted. It just… melted. 

Her voice was so sweet I would have even liked it if she had yelled at me. Like honey in the desert. 

“I’m Seth.” I introduced myself as she held out her hand to me. 

“Ah, so you’re my stepbrother? I'm Brianna. But call me Honey, that’s my nickname and I like it a lot better.” 

I would have loved to say, ‘ _nothing better than that, Honey_ ’, but I held back and instead smelt in her stunning scent that slowly enveloped me. Lilac and...? Gooseberries. 

“Yes... stepbrother,” I murmured as silence fell between us for a long time. 

Silently, I sat down opposite her at the table and watched her warily. She was talking to Nessie and Emily about her old school and where she used to live. I wished I had listened more carefully to Jake when he had told me about her yesterday afternoon, because right now I could only listen to half of what she was saying because I was just flashed by her aura.  
He hadn't lied—she really was very pale and petite. But in my eyes she was the most beautiful person in the room and I was ashamed of having had sex with someone else not even two hours ago.

“Seth?” Emily asked, looking at me piercingly. 

What had I missed now? I looked at her with raised eyebrows. 

“Do you want a blueberry muffin?” She laughed. 

“Uhh, yeah, sorry, I'm a little tired,” I muttered softly and accepted one of the famous Emily muffins.  
“Why are you baking anyway?” I then asked the group and Nessie rolled her eyes. “We're having a bonfire night tomorrow, aren't we? Have you forgotten about that again?” 

Confused, I looked at her. 

“Like we used to. Sue wants to tell us the old stories again so Honey will know them, too.” Jake let me know and I sank back into the chair.  
_My mom_. She would know right away that I imprinted—if she hadn't heard it from someone by tomorrow anyway. 

“Seth, you need to exercise your brain rather than your brawn, silly.” Sam teased me too and I sighed softly. 

Honey laughed, “And you have a high school diploma?” Ouch, that hurt. 

But I couldn't be mad at her.  
_Fucking hell, Seth, you had imprinted_.  
Seth, the chick magnet, had imprinted. My mind was still rattling as I asked, completely incautious, “When is your birthday anyway?” 

Brianna looked at me in surprise. “In a few weeks actually, on May 30th,” She then answered my question, even though I still didn't know how old she was now. 

Mom said she would be in school with Nessie for almost two more years, so I was hoping she was at least sixteen. 

“Are you turning seventeen?” my best friend asked gratefully and I whispered a _thank you_ as quietly as I could. 

He leaned against the kitchen counter, grinning and chewing a muffin, knowing full well that I was hopelessly overwhelmed by this situation. 

Brianna nodded. 

“Jake, don't you actually have something else planned for today?” Sam then asked addressing him and Jake rolled his eyes.  
“Actually, I think Seth has some plans.” He grinned and my breath caught. 

I had, after all, lost the bloody bet and thus won Jake and Emb's patrols for the next _two weeks_. 

Panicking, I looked to my best friend, I didn't want to leave here just yet! I had learned far too little about Brianna and I didn't know if I could stand to be away from her for even a few hours right now, what would the next few days be like? 

“Jake,” Sam said firmly and my best friend conceded defeat. 

I would have loved to throw my arms around my alpha's neck when Jake, of course only after he had said goodbye to Nessie profusely, left the house and ran towards the forest.

“Where's he going?” Brianna asked, frowning as she filled the muffin tins with her tender hands. 

“Oh, it’s his turn to take care of checking the border fence to the nature park today.” Sam lied casually and I really needed to remember that lie, at least for the time Brianna didn't know about the wolves yet. 

I sat down with Tyler to play with him and my mind wandered again....

“Seth?” again I was jolted out of my thoughts. This time by Renesmee. 

“Huh? Sorry, I was too focused on Tyler.” I smiled as I gathered the building blocks back up.

“Can you give Honey and me a ride home?” I nodded mutely. 

“Well, Jake’s car is still at the garage... It just wasn’t planned that way.” She laughed and I wanted to sink into the ground in shame again. 

Why did this, out of all people, happen to me?

Half an hour later we were sitting in my grey jeep and there was silence. But Nessie, being what she was, broke the ice and told Brianna about Forks High School and the friends she would soon meet and the cheerleading team. 

As we stopped in front of Charlie’s house, Honey said goodbye and my heart grew heavy.

 _Jesus, Seth, get a grip_! I thought. After all, I would see her again tomorrow. But with every step she took towards the white house, something inside me tightened more. 

“Seth, you'll see her again soon. My goodness,” Renesmee grinned. 

As my mother opened the front door, she gave us a quick wave. 

“Uh oh, they're talking about you.” Nessie laughed.  
Her hearing was still a cut above mine, even if mine was even the most superior of the pack.

“What are they saying?” I asked in a panic, but to keep the whole thing from seeming weird I started driving slowly again. 

“Honey is just talking about how she met you. With a pause before _met_.” 

I swallowed. Hopefully she wouldn't tell my mother what had happened. 

“Even though she's quick-witted, I don't think she’d just tell Sue that you’d been shagging some random girl at the garage,” Nessie answered my question.

I sighed out loud. Sometimes she was a good friend and she could put someone at ease. 

“Can you show me what you’ve talked about since you met her?” I asked cautiously. 

A gift such as Nessie’s came in handy in this case.  
“Oh no, Seth. You get to know her normally. I won’t interfere with that,” she refused, though, and I looked at her, aghast. “But—” 

“No _buts_. Don’t worry, I’ll put her on the right track and protect her from the vultures at school, too,” she replied and I shuddered. “Well thank you Ness, I hadn’t thought of them.” 

I felt sick at the thought of some pubescent boys digging at her at school. 

Not my girl. I growled softly. 

“Oh my god, Seth. Get over yourself.” Nessie gave me an annoyed look. 

We were driving up the Cullens’ driveway and I couldn’t think of anything but Brianna’s first day of school.

“Do you want to be there when I tell Mom that her half-sister got claimed, too?” Renesmee giggled and I felt like someone had hit me with a hammer. 

“Oh fuck,” I muttered. 

After all, I hadn't thought of that yet. Saddened, I thought back to the moment Bella had slammed me into a tree when she’d learned Jake had imprinted on Nessie. She only knew this from stories, but right now it was more present than ever. 

“Well, if I get to tell it now," I sighed as the car came to a stop and Nessie got out. 

She was greeted directly by Rosalie. “What’s the dog doing here?” she asked with a sniff.

“Hello, Blondie.” I hissed as I followed Nessie into the house. 

The rest of the family were sitting in front of the TV watching football. Edward grinned, sure he had overheard in our thoughts what was going on, my mind was also very confused right now. 

“Hey Seth, what are you doing here?” Esme smiled gently at me. 

“I—Uh—,” I started. 

“We went to the garage with Brianna today.” Nessie finally started to tell, “And she _met_ Seth.” 

Edward started laughing. Well thank you too, Ness! 

“It wasn't like—” 

“What it looks like?” he finished my sentence and grinned at me. 

“Okay, what the heck is going on?” Bella asked me confused, standing up jerkily so she was in front of me. 

“I have—well—I've imprinted on Brianna.” I admitted and Bella’s gaze pierced me. 

Oh no. 

“That’s not true, is it?” she asked after what felt like an eternity and I took a step back.  
Even though she wouldn’t normally hurt anyone, I was getting a little scared. 

"What’s it with you filthy wolves that directly lay claim to everything that is even somehow related to me? How can it be that I wasn’t allowed to know my daughter properly and Jake tied her to him, how can it be the same now with my sister? You've all missed the boat!” she exclaimed. 

“Bella, you know—” 

“Yes dammit, I know you can’t help it!” She roared now and Edward touched her gently on the left arm. 

“Bells,” Alice said softly, too, and I sensed Jasper was trying to control our emotions, but Bella had just run up her famous shield. 

Oh no. 

“Look, I’m really sorry.” I apologised sincerely and Bella seemed to slowly calm down. 

“And what was Ed laughing at earlier?” Emmett asked, sitting on the sofa and I rolled my eyes. Nessie was grinning again, too. 

“The way Brianna saw him for the first time... Was special.” She informed her uncle. 

“Ohh, now it's getting interesting,” Emmett chuckled and Bella gave me another piercing look. 

“What did you do?” 

“I honestly don't want to talk about it,” I muttered quietly and started fleeing towards the front door, but Bella held me tight. 

“You owe me an explanation!” she demanded and I sighed. 

“I’ll make it short and sweet: he was having sex with someone else on a desk in the office of the garage when we just walked into it.” Her daughter spilled the beans and I covered my face with my hands. 

I heard Emmett laugh out loud and Jasper joined in. The others grinned but were visibly uncomfortable. 

“Seth. Don’t you dare to _hurt_ her,” Bella hissed and I looked at her in shock. 

“Bella, you know very well I could never ever do that.” 

She walked past me. “I’m going to break something into a thousand pieces. See you later,” she said her own way of a goodbye.

“Well, that didn't go too bad,” Ness giggled. By now she was sitting on the armrest of the big sofa. 

I pressed my lips together and said goodbye as well. Good, I was still alive.

As I sat back in the car, I squinted briefly at my phone. Several missed calls from Leah. What should we bet that someone had tipped her off that her brother had imprinted? But no—I probably shouldn't do any more betting. It hadn't ended well last time.


	6. Hoguera

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I hope you are well! Thanks as always for the kudos, I appreciate them very much :)  
> On with our story, see you next week!

The next time my music was interrupted in the car, less than five minutes had passed since Leah’s last attempted call. So I guess I had no choice but to answer the phone after all.  
I wasn't even back home yet... 

“Yeah?” I took the call on the car's speakerphone and heard a hysterical “Is it true?” from my sister. 

I sighed and curled my fingers into the black steering wheel until my knuckles were turning white. 

“I'm taking your silence as a yes. It can’t be! I cannot believe this!” 

“And who told you?” I groaned. 

“Jake took Jared off patrol. He told Kim and she told me.” I could hear Leah grin. 

Great, so the whole pack knew. 

“So now what?” my sister then asked me.  
“What do you want me to say? I'm hoping she won't hold the way she met me against me and that Mom won't kill me. Or Bella. Which she actually almost did just like 15 minutes ago.” I relayed my visit at the Cullens’. 

Leah hissed. “If she dares to harm you just one time—” 

“She didn’t do anything. Besides, I can understand her feelings, too.” 

“And does Mom know yet?” Leah asked as I rolled onto the yard in front of our house.

Thankfully Jake was on patrol tonight, I really wouldn't be able to take any more rambling today. 

“No, she doesn’t. But tomorrow, I guess. We've got another great campfire night coming up,” I grumbled, still sitting in the car.

“I can’t believe it. Send me a picture of her—now!” my sister continued to squeal under her breath, and right now I wasn't sure if I liked the sad-sack Leah from a few years ago better than the hyper college girl Leah now. 

“I don’t have one,” I answered truthfully. 

“As if. Surely she’ll have Instagram or something? I’m going to find out anyway.” 

“Don’t you have anything else to do right now?” Annoyed, I look at the clock. It should be the middle of the night in Philadelphia. 

“I’ve just come from a party and I heard this news, do you think I’ll just go to sleep you moron?” 

“I wish,” I muttered. 

“Alright. But don’t you think that’s it. I’m so excited. And I’ll be home in a few weeks anyway, after exams and because of Jared and Kim’s wedding. I can’t believe my little brother imprinted—” 

“Go to sleep, Leah.” 

“Good night Sethy.” 

With that, the conversation was over and I was alone with my thoughts again.

It was only after I had cooked myself something and sat in front of the TV that I dared to look at my phone again. Surprisingly, no one else had bothered me yet and I was really glad about that. Then I saw that Nessie had already added Brianna to our Wolfpack group on Whatsapp—and wondered if she did it so I could get her contact—so I decided to write her a quick message:

_Hey Brianna, sorry again for today. I hope you're settling in well and Charlie and my mum are being nice to you. Do you even want to go to the bonfire tomorrow?_

_Hey, Seth, thanks for your message. It's all good really, it's not the first time I've seen something like that ;). I'm honestly looking forward to tomorrow, it takes my mind off the whole situation with my mom a bit._

This news triggered two feelings in me:  
1st.: Sadness, as I had almost forgotten why she was here in the first place. Her mother was dead.  
2nd: Jealousy. Either she wanted to tell me that she had already had sex herself—and the thought of it made me furious, though I myself was jokingly called a _walking STD_ —or something else happened to her.  
I tried to swallow the anger, it wouldn’t change anything right now anyway. I took a deep breath and wrote:

_Do you want to talk about your mother?_

_Thanks for the offer, but not right now. I'm going to go to sleep for now, I’ll see you tomorrow, right? :)_

_Yeah sure, I’m curious to hear what you have to say about the other slobs aka our friends.  
Sleep well - And as I said, if you want to talk, I'm an amazingly good listener, even if you might not think so. :D_

Then she was shown as offline and I hung on to my thoughts. Jake being on patrol actually eased my mind. I slowly but surely put the day’s events in order and decided that I needed to approach the whole imprinting thing carefully. 

Firstly, because Brianna had just lost her mother and probably had other things to worry about than a guy chasing her—and I was most concerned about her safety anyway. Secondly, because I myself had never ever been in love and needed to control these feelings I felt for her. 

Not that I didn't feel the need to take this petite girl in my arms and never let go, but I too had to get used to it. While thinking about this and that, I ate the noodles and then decided to go to bed. The wolf in me wanted to do everything to get the time until the campfire over to pass by as quickly as possible anyway, so I agreed with him. Well, that was going to be a lot of fun…

The next day passed without any major events. I felt something like sadness because Brianna didn’t write anything in our group or to me, but I didn’t want to impose myself on her either. 

Jake hadn’t come home in the morning either, he was probably at the Cullens'. To pass the time until early evening, I exercised, gambled a bit and tried to distract myself. Around 4pm, however, I became restless and I decided to go to Sam’s, as we were going to walk to the campfire together. 

When I got there, I knew why the wolf in me had been stepping on the gas more and more: Brianna was there. Sure.

“Hey everyone!” I greeted the Uleys and Jake, Nessie and Brianna. 

“Hey Seth, what have you been up to all day?” grinned Jake at me and I rolled my eyes. “I've been playing CoD so I can flatten you next time.”  
“Ah, like last time?” he grinned and I went to sit down on a chair at the dining table. 

But Emily beat me to it, “Nah, nothing to do there. You can help Brianna gather the plates and cutlery from the pantry.” 

She looked at me urgently and I formed a thank you with my lips. 

“Well, let’s go.” Brianna smiled at me and we went into the room next to the kitchen. 

“Did you sleep well?” I tried to get the conversation going, rather badly than well. 

Brianna yawned demonstratively. “I’m fine. I have so many impressions to process—” she sighed and we both reached for the paper plates from a shelf at the same time, so that our hands touched.  
A pleasant tingling sensation spread through me, but just as much I was startled by how cold her hand was. This was colder than the average person? 

“Oh, sorry, are you cold?” I asked, withdrawing my hand again. 

“I—Uh, no. My body temperature is at 35 degrees celsius by default, no idea why. And you have a fever?” she asked confused and I laughed softly. 

“No, it’s the other way around for me: my average temperature is 42 degrees. Also no idea why.” 

She shook her head slowly. “How _bizarre_.” She murmured softly as I pulled the paper cups down from the high shelf. 

“But to get back to the subject: Sue and Charlie—Dad—are very nice.” 

“Can I ask you something?” I looked at her cautiously as she put things in the basket. 

“Sure. Knock yourself out.” 

“Did you know Charlie was your dad? Did you know about Bella?” 

Brianna pressed her lips together. “Yes and no. I haven’t seen Charlie once since I was born. He always paid the child support though and wrote me a card for my birthday and Christmas. Mom and he were just having an affair, they happened to be at the same ski resort at the same time.” She sighed and I noticed her distress. “I think he wanted to see me. But Mom didn’t want him to visit us in Vancouver. But well—It is what it is,” she then murmured and I nodded as she continued, “I didn’t know about Bella. I don’t think she’s that excited about me—But I'm glad Nessie is my age. May I ask why the Cullens adopted her?” 

She hit the bull’s-eye with that question. I assumed they didn’t say Nessie was Bella and Edward’s daughter or something, but for sure that she was Carlisle and Esme's child. 

“I think you’d better let her tell you that herself. But just watch out, she can be a real handful sometimes, too.” I grinned and heard a hissed “Seth!” from the kitchen—Luckily, only I could hear it. 

“Thanks for the warning. Okay, do we have everything?” smiled Brianna and I got lost in her gaze and eyes. They were light brown and had a golden rim around the pupil.“Seth?” she asked me again and I nodded. 

“Yeah, let's go.” I closed the door behind me and had to digest what she had just told me. 

Why the hell didn’t her mother want her to meet Charlie?

When we arrived at the beach an hour later, we were just greeted by the sunset. 

“Wow, it's really beautiful here!” murmured Brianna and I nodded encouragingly at her. 

“It’s good surfing here in the summer, have you ever tried?” I asked her as we walked behind the dune. 

“Nah, where would I?” she laughed.

“Good, you'll learn this summer then.” 

She smiled at me and my heart soared again. Damn, where was I going to go with all these feelings?  
That thought was pushed right aside when I saw my mother. She was shifting her gaze between Brianna and me, her eyes getting smaller with each shift. 

Okay, now she knew. 

“Hi, Mom.” I hugged her and looked at her with a dazed look. 

“We need to talk,” she said softly and then greeted the others first. 

Great. Did anyone else want to talk to me about this imprinting? I was doing so well talking about it right now.

I followed my mother a few steps away from the people and she looked at me.  
I tiptoed back and forth, trying to avoid her gaze. 

“Do you have something to tell me?” she asked then and I shrugged. 

“You saw it, didn’t you?” I sighed. 

Then her stare turned into a grin that took over her entire face. “Didn't I tell you last week?” 

I remembered she said I was going to meet someone special soon. My mouth dropped open and I didn't know what to say. 

“Though I didn't expect it to be my stepdaughter of all people—but anyway.” 

I ran my fingers through my hair, seemingly lost in thought. 

“Don't worry, it’ll all work out!” my mother tried to cheer me up and all I could do was grumble. “So much for a girl that’s not running with the wolves.” She sighed and pulled me back to the others who were preparing the campfire.

Had I now settled all fronts? Did I still have to explain my love life to anyone else? With distracted thoughts, I sat down next to Jake, who was already draping marshmallows on a skewer. 

I let my gaze wander over the beach and saw that Brianna was walking along the waterfront about a hundred metres away from us with Nessie, Kim, Mina and Jo, who was Paul’s girlfriend. Mina also went to class with Ness, so Brianna had met another classmate. The tension that had been with me for a day slowly eased. 

“How are you?” Jake asked me, pressing skewers into my hand as well. 

“I think—good?” 

“I think she likes you,” my best friend replied and I sighed softly. 

“I just hope it doesn't get too absurd for her that I'm her stepbrother,” I muttered. 

“Oh, we’re such an incestuous group anyway, it doesn’t really matter anymore." Jake grinned and I rolled my eyes. 

“She seems to get on well with the girls. And she’s already told you a few things about her life, too.” he continued. 

“Have you asses been eavesdropping?” 

“I can't help it that Nessie’s hearing is so good. Well, mine is too, but I didn’t understand exactly what it was about.” 

I stretched. “I wonder what was going on with Brianna’s mother that she didn’t want her daughter to meet her father.” I revealed my thoughts. 

Jake nodded, “Maybe there’s a logical explanation for that.” 

“Hmm,” I grumbled and then almost got hit by a branch Paul tried to throw at my head. 

“Hey, idiot, we need a lighter and I guess you’ve got one, eh?” he called out and I went over to him.


End file.
